The Pros & Cons Of Recording Vocals With The Shure SM7 Microphone

When doing Home Music Recording one of the most important things to achieve high quality recordings is the use of high quality microphones, particularly when recording vocals.

Usually people think of condenser microphones such as the Shure KSM44 Condenser Mic for recording vocals but these kind of mics tend to be very expensive. For example the Shure KSM44 is actually about $800 when bought new.

There is a less expensive alternative; the Shure SM7 Microphone. This mic is about $350 purchased new and you can achieve very good results with it. What follows are lists of pros & cons of buying an SM7 for use in your home recording studio.

Pros of the Shure SM7 Microphone

1. By the standards of high quality vocal microphones, it is quite inexpensive.

2. Many famous singers have recorded their vocals with the Shure SM7 including Michael Jackson. Consider the fact that Jackson obviously had the budget to use any mic in the world when recording his vocals and he and his producer, Quincy Jones, decided on this relatively inexpensive dynamic mic.

3. Because it does not pick up very much room sound or background noise, it is an ideal mic for home studios which often have very poor acoustics. Poor acoustics is one of the things that most makes home recordings sound “cheap.” This is a way around that problem.

Cons of the Shure SM7 Microphone

1. This microphone is not very useful other than for recording vocals. While some have said they use it to record acoustic guitars, I find it does not work well for this purpose.

2. The fact that it does not pick up much “room sound” could be seen as a con if you are looking for that open live sound and you have worked hard to get your acoustics perfect.

3. Condenser mics, such as the previously mentioned KSM44, can usually be used for many more purposes than dynamic mics.